Tile-ditching hoe



(No Model.)

H. 8u L. IWAN.

TILE DITGHING HOE.

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HENRY IVAN AND LOUIS IVAN, OF STREATOR, ILLINOIS.

TILE-DITCHING HOE.

SECFCATEQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 320,136, dated Tune 16, 1885.

Application tiled March 23, 1885. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern,.-

Beit known that we, HENRY lwAN and Louis IWAN, citizens of the United States, residing at Streator, in the county of La Salle and State of Illinois, have invent-ed certain new and useful Improvements in Tile-Ditching Hoes, and we do hereby declare 'that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this speciiication, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon.

Figure l of the drawings is a perspective view of our improved ditching-hoe complete; Fig. 2, a similar view of the tubular socket and handle connected thereto, and Fig. 3 a perspective view of the bifureated shank.

The present invention has relation to that class of ditching-hoes having a concave-con- Vex blade and a bifureated shank or bail connected to the blade midway of its ends, so as to allow it to project out at each side of the shank. Previous to my invention this bifureated shank or bail, to which the blade of the hoe was secured, was cast or otherwise similarly formed with means for connecting thereto the end of the wooden handle. It was further common to construct this bifureated shank in two sections terminating at their upper ends in ratchet-faced clamps, and secured to a similarly-formed head on the lower extremity of the tubular socket by a bolt, the object thereof being to adjust the blade of the hoev at any desired angle with relation to the handle.

It is the object of the present invention to improve the construction of the abovementioned class of hoes, which I attain by forming the bifureated shank in one piece with a ratchet-head and the tubular socket with a correspondingly-formed head and connecting the two by a suitable bolt, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, A represents the blade of the hoe, and B the bifureated shank or bail, terminating at its lower ends in ears a, for attaching it tothe sides of the blade by suitable rivets or other like fastenings. This shank B differs from others of its kind in that it is formed in one and a single piece with the ratchet-faced head C.

The ratchet of the head C engages with a similarformed head, D, east or otherwise formed on the lower extremity of the tubular socket E, to which the end of the wooden handle F is inserted and fastened. The ratchet side of the head D is formed with a segmental bearing shoulder, b, for the head C, so that when using the hoe the strain is taken ofi` of the screw-bolt c, which connects the two heads together, a nut, d, being used upon the screwthreaded end of the bolt to draw the ratchetfaces of the heads in engagement with each other to hold the blade A to the angle adjusted.

The shank B with its ratchet-head O being made in one piece greatly iessens the cost of manufacture, and also possesses increased strength, while fewer parts are necessary to enable a perfect adjustment of the hoe-blade, and consequently less liable to get out of order, these features of superiority being considered of much importance in this class of hoes, as it is necessary that when the blade is set to the angle required it shall remain iirin and rigid, to resist the strain upon the blade when working with the hoe, which is not always the case where the bifureated shank is formed in sections, the sections at their ratchet ends spreading apart and becoming disengaged with the ratchet-head on the handle.

It is evident that in place of the tubular socket E the ratchet-head C may be formed on the end of a suitable tang pointed at its end to enter the end of the wooden handle; or the ratchet-head may be provided with any well-known means for connecting it to the handle, these changes being obvious ones and coming within the scope of our invention.

Having now fully described our invention, what we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. As an improved article of manufacture, a bail having integrally formed therewith a ratchet-head at substantially right angles to the plane of the bail, its ends expanded to form ears, in combination with a handle having a ratchet-head eorresl'ionding to the ratchet-head of the bail, substantially as shown, and for the purposes described.

2. As an improved article of manufacture,

In testimony that we claim the above We 1o have hereunto subscribed our names in the presence of two witnesses.

HENRY IWAN. LoUIs IWAN.

Witnesses:

J AY BAKER, THEODORE ROCKENFELLER.

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